'Titandeath' – Guy Haley (Black Library)

In this little corner of the internet, the name 'Guy Haley' is fast becoming synonymous with 'writes bloody good Warhammer 40K books'. I suspect there are many more books, of his, that I still have to read but the ones that I have read (like this one and also this one) point to a writer who knows the setting inside out and knows how to tell a gripping tale in it.

So it was then that when I saw 'Titandeath', when I was out shopping last week, I knew that I had to pick it up and get reading. My 'Horus Heresy' reading pretty much follows the 'forget the reading order, is it in mass market paperback yet?' order and that was a key factor in my buying it, as was the fact that it's all about Titans, super massive giant war machines that can really ruin an infantryman's day. Titans are mentioned across the series but I think this is the first 'Horus Heresy' book that really focuses on them and the people who crew them (it's been years since I read 'Mechanicum' so may well be completely wrong but anyway...) A good reason to get reading then, so I did. And...

Horus’s armada gathers, and he has defeated all enemies sent against him, even the Emperor’s own executioner. One barrier remains before he can strike for Terra and lay waste to the Emperor’s dream.

The Beta-Garmon system occupies the most direct and only viable route to the Solar System and Terra. To break it, Horus assembles a war host of incredible proportions and Titans in untold numbers. To lose here is to lose the war and Horus has no intention of turning back. But the Imperium understands the importance of Beta-Garmon too. A massive army is arrayed, comprised of near numberless Army cohorts and a mustering of Titans to challenge even the martial might of the Warmaster.

Titans fight against Titans as the God-Machines of Loyalists and Traitors alike go to war. This conflict will be like no other before it, a world-ending battle that will determine the next phase of the war.

'Titandeath' is another very solid 'Horus Heresy' tale from Haley, an intriguing mixture of far future warfare and the implications of this for the combatants. If you're anything like me though, you'll have to patient for a little bit and wait for the book to truly burst into life.

The 'Horus Heresy' series (well, the books I've read) have mainly focussed on warfare waged by the Astartes with the occasional appearance by Imperial Army units and one awesome read that was all about Imperial assassins. I've never really come across warfare waged by the Mechanicum and once I did here, I found that it just wasn't as stirring as I wanted it to be. Don't get me wrong, the pitched battles between Titans were amazing (more on that in a bit), I'm talking about Mechanicum warfare at a more intimate level, cyborgs mindlessly fighting other cyborgs, machine spirits fighting each other in code exchanges, that kind of thing. A lot of the early stages of the book were about this kind of warfare and as interesting as it was to see a new front open in the Civil War, it just felt a little too impersonal to be truly engaging. You could argue that 'impersonal' is the whole point, and you'd be totally right but it just left me a little cold. That's on me and not a failing of the book itself, I suspect that owners of Mechanicum armies will get a lot out of seeing warfare waged at this level and that's great, I don't fall into that group though and you can't blame a book for that. We do get to see the Imperial Knights in action though and that's a nice hint at what we're going to see later on.

And later on is when it all kicks off, in more ways than one. Anyone who came for the Titans will get their money's worth as Haley treats us to Titan warfare on two fronts, an orbital manufactory and an absolutely massive planet (it had to be a big one, just to be able to fit ALL the Titans on it...) It is as awesome as you would expect. Haley switches from deft and intricate micro-warfare to full on giant war machines battering the hell out of each other, with no real care for what's happening around their feet, in an instant and deposits you right in the middle of it all; the best place for you to see it up close and brutal. The size of the battle (system wide) also leaves you in no doubt as to the importance of this particular engagement. Fans of the 'Horus Heresy' already know what's going to happen next but who cares when it's this exciting? 'Titandeath' sets up what's coming in the 'Siege of Terra' books and does it brilliantly.

What I really got a lot out of though were the glimpses that Haley gives us into the life of a Titan Legio when it's not fighting. The emphasis is on the mechanical, as you'd expect, but with a touch of humanity at the same time, trying to reconcile the creed of the Machine with a universe that works to a pattern but will also fight against the illusion of order being imposed upon it. There's a lot to discover in these passages and seeing it through the eyes of the Great Mother helps us to determine just how successful the Emperor's vision turned out to be.

What is more interesting, even than that though, is how Haley takes us through how doctrine and a seemingly random engagement can send two allied Legios spiraling off in completely different directions and end up facing off against each other in the Civil War. There's an element of the tragic here that casts the overall war in exactly the light needed.

I'm really glad that I stuck with 'Titandeath' as it turned out to be a really thoughtful (and bloody of course) addition to the 'Horus Heresy' series. If you're reading the series in order (I'm not, as you may have gathered) then I think there's a bit of a treat waiting for you with this book...